SHIPPERS who transport cargo via Northwest Russia, and in particular through the Big Port St Petersburg, will be able to save at least 10 per cent to 15 per cent on shipping costs, thanks to a new community within port boundaries that unites major, local stevedore companies and forwarders.
GPU VED HERMES State Enterprise, a public association of leading stevedore and freight companies in Northwest Russia, and one of the major initiators of the new community, is approved by the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and the Federal Customs Service, which will work to speed port operations and decrease shipper costs.
Currently, the charge to handle a TEU at the Big Port is US$480 and up, depending on the ocean carrier. Weighing costs an additional $140 to $150 per TEU.
Yuri Kovalev, board member of GPU VED HERMES State Enterprise said the new institution will follow the example and experience of Germany's Port of Hamburg and Finland's Kotka seaports, where such communities already exist, and specialise in and lobby local/state bodies regarding the interests of stevedores and shippers.
Mr Kovalev added that the new community will also take on bureaucratic issues shippers and forwarders encounter at the Big Port, as well address arbitrary actions by regulators. Regarding the latter, the number of such cases remains high, reports IHS Media.
Moreover, shippers - members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs - confirm that arbitrary actions by Russian regulators remains one of the major reasons for shipper losses, both in terms of time and money, during customs clearance of cargo at St. Petersburg and at other Russian seaports.
The Russian Association of Commercial Seaports (FACS) estimates that bureaucratic actions by various state officials involved in Russian port operations usually increase shippers' costs by 7 per cent to 17 per cent.
FACS experts add that there are even cases of extortion of additional payments from shippers by the Russian Customs Service officers and by other regulators. These additional fees are usually accompanied by threats of additional checks of cargo and by wrongful arrests.
While helping to prevent the above, the new community will also analyse and modify Big Port operations, with the goal of making them substantially quicker. The new community will establish one IT system for customs clearance procedures, which despite recent improvements is outdated and paper-based. Shippers believe the new IT system, which will systematically collect and categorise all shipper and transport company data at the Big Port, will speed and streamline the cargo handling process.
Currently, Big Port import container clearance time takes three to six days; the new community expects to reduce that to two to four days, reports IHS Media.
GPU VED HERMES State Enterprise, a public association of leading stevedore and freight companies in Northwest Russia, and one of the major initiators of the new community, is approved by the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service and the Federal Customs Service, which will work to speed port operations and decrease shipper costs.
Currently, the charge to handle a TEU at the Big Port is US$480 and up, depending on the ocean carrier. Weighing costs an additional $140 to $150 per TEU.
Yuri Kovalev, board member of GPU VED HERMES State Enterprise said the new institution will follow the example and experience of Germany's Port of Hamburg and Finland's Kotka seaports, where such communities already exist, and specialise in and lobby local/state bodies regarding the interests of stevedores and shippers.
Mr Kovalev added that the new community will also take on bureaucratic issues shippers and forwarders encounter at the Big Port, as well address arbitrary actions by regulators. Regarding the latter, the number of such cases remains high, reports IHS Media.
Moreover, shippers - members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs - confirm that arbitrary actions by Russian regulators remains one of the major reasons for shipper losses, both in terms of time and money, during customs clearance of cargo at St. Petersburg and at other Russian seaports.
The Russian Association of Commercial Seaports (FACS) estimates that bureaucratic actions by various state officials involved in Russian port operations usually increase shippers' costs by 7 per cent to 17 per cent.
FACS experts add that there are even cases of extortion of additional payments from shippers by the Russian Customs Service officers and by other regulators. These additional fees are usually accompanied by threats of additional checks of cargo and by wrongful arrests.
While helping to prevent the above, the new community will also analyse and modify Big Port operations, with the goal of making them substantially quicker. The new community will establish one IT system for customs clearance procedures, which despite recent improvements is outdated and paper-based. Shippers believe the new IT system, which will systematically collect and categorise all shipper and transport company data at the Big Port, will speed and streamline the cargo handling process.
Currently, Big Port import container clearance time takes three to six days; the new community expects to reduce that to two to four days, reports IHS Media.